after-effects-mcp

Provides an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server plus an After Effects “bridge” panel to let clients remotely control Adobe After Effects project contents—e.g., create compositions and layers, modify properties, set keyframes/expressions, and run scripts—via MCP tool calls that ultimately execute ExtendScript/JS inside After Effects.

Evaluated Apr 04, 2026 (16d ago)
Repo ↗ Automation mcp after-effects automation extendScript nodejs typescript motion-graphics devtools
⚙ Agent Friendliness
58
/ 100
Can an agent use this?
🔒 Security
20
/ 100
Is it safe for agents?
⚡ Reliability
25
/ 100
Does it work consistently?

Score Breakdown

⚙ Agent Friendliness

MCP Quality
80
Documentation
70
Error Messages
0
Auth Simplicity
95
Rate Limits
5

🔒 Security

TLS Enforcement
20
Auth Strength
10
Scope Granularity
5
Dep. Hygiene
45
Secret Handling
30

Security is not addressed in the provided documentation: no auth, scopes, or network exposure guidance is described. The server executes scripts inside After Effects (via a bridge/panel), which increases the impact of any misuse. TLS cannot be confirmed because the MCP transport details/URL and whether HTTPS-like protections exist are not documented.

⚡ Reliability

Uptime/SLA
0
Version Stability
40
Breaking Changes
30
Error Recovery
30
AF Security Reliability

Best When

You have a trusted local desktop workflow where an MCP-capable client can talk to the MCP server and After Effects is available and configured.

Avoid When

You need robust multi-tenant security, fine-grained access control, or documented rate limiting/error-code semantics; also avoid running it in a way that exposes script execution paths to untrusted users.

Use Cases

  • AI-assisted generation of After Effects compositions and layer setups
  • Programmatic layout/storyboarding (text/shape/solid/camera/null objects)
  • Automated animation parameter setting (keyframes, expressions, timing)
  • Batch property updates across multiple layers
  • Integrating After Effects into larger automation pipelines via MCP clients

Not For

  • Securing/isolating untrusted script execution without operational controls
  • Producing final-rendered video without additional rendering orchestration
  • Public internet exposure of the MCP server/bridge without network and auth controls
  • Use cases requiring strong audit/compliance guarantees from the API itself (not evidenced in docs)

Interface

REST API
No
GraphQL
No
gRPC
No
MCP Server
Yes
SDK
No
Webhooks
No

Authentication

OAuth: No Scopes: No

No authentication method, API key, or OAuth flow is described in the provided README. Access appears to be local/transport-based (MCP server/bridge) rather than identity-based.

Pricing

Free tier: No
Requires CC: No

Open-source (MIT) and self-hosted; no pricing model described.

Agent Metadata

Pagination
none
Idempotent
False
Retry Guidance
Not documented

Known Gotchas

  • After Effects and the MCP bridge panel must be running/available; commands depend on AE state.
  • Tool calls that mutate the project (create/delete/duplicate, set properties) may be order-dependent.
  • If the bridge auto-runs periodically, agents may need to avoid sending overlapping commands.
  • Execution results rely on ExtendScript/After Effects timing; failures may require observing AE-side state even if MCP returns a response.

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Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-04-04.

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